The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (also known as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2) is a 1986 American horror dark comedy slasher film, directed by Tobe Hooper. It is a sequel to the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, also directed and co-written by Hooper. It was written by L. M. Kit Carson and produced by Carson, Yoram Globus, Menahem Golan and Hooper. The film stars Dennis Hopper as "Lefty", Caroline Williams as "Stretch", Bill Johnson as "Leatherface", Bill Moseley as "Chop Top" and Jim Siedow, who reprises the role of "The Cook". The sequel was highly criticized by some for its stylistic departure from the first film, including its bigger budget and emphasis on gore and wacky black comedy, as opposed to the original which utilized minimal gore, a low-budget vérité style and atmosphere to build tension and fear. The emphasis was on black comedy, which director Tobe Hooper believed was present in the first film, but unacknowledged by viewers because of its realistic and shocking content. Despite being successful in its initial 1986 theatrical run, the film failed to make a substantial profit for the studio; however, it eventually garnered a cult following and became popular on home video, which led to a special edition release of the film on DVD in 2006. Plot The film takes place in 1986, 13 years after the events of the first film. It begins with Buzz and Rick, two rowdy high school seniors racing along an abandoned stretch of Texas highway, in route to a weekend of fun in Dallas. They are heavily intoxicated and use their car phone to call and harass on-air radio DJ Vanita "Stretch" Brock (Caroline Williams). Unable to convince them to hang up, Stretch is forced to keep the line open. Buzz and Rick encounter a large pickup truck which runs parallel to them on a remote bridge. Suddenly, Leatherface (Bill Johnson), wielding a chainsaw, emerges from the back of the truck and proceeds to attack Buzz and Rick. After a short struggle, Rick tries to shoot Leatherface with a .44 Magnum revolver, but misses his target. Leatherface then slices off part of the driving Buzz's head, and the car ends up crashing. The following morning, Lieutenant Boude "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper), former Texas Ranger, and uncle of Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother Franklin, who were victims of Leatherface and his family years earlier, arrives at the scene of the crime to help solve Buzz and Rick's murders. Lefty has spent the last thirteen years investigating his niece and nephew's disappearances while investigating reports of mysterious chainsaw killings across Texas. Although regarded with disdain by his peers, Lefty is able to convince the local newspaper to print a tiny article about his quest for justice. The article captures the interest of Stretch, who brings him a copy of the audio tape which recorded the attack on the two teenagers. Initially mortified, Lefty asks Stretch to play the tape on her nightly radio show so the law enforcers and the people will have to listen to him. As the sounds of the horrible attack echo across the airwaves of Texas, Leatherface's family arrive at the radio station. While preparing to leave for the night, Stretch finds Chop Top (Bill Moseley) (who was stationed in Vietnam during the first film and is the twin of the Hitchhiker from the first film), waiting in the lobby. When she tries to get rid of him, Leatherface emerges from the darkness. Horrified, Stretch locks herself behind the metal door of a storage closet, holding off Leatherface until he comes through the wall. Meanwhile, Stretch's co-worker L.G. (Lou Perryman) arrives, but is beaten badly with a tack hammer by Chop Top. As Leatherface approaches Stretch, about to attack, she does some fast talking and charms him into sparing her. After a moment of distraction, Leatherface restarts his chainsaw and tears off through the studio slashing at walls, furniture and studio equipment, but leaves Stretch alive. He returns to the reception area where he leads Chop Top to believe that he has killed Stretch. Leatherface and Chop Top haul the mortally wounded L.G. off to their home, followed by Stretch, who winds up trapped inside the Sawyer home, which is actually an abandoned carnival ground decorated with human bones, multi-colored lights, and carnival remnants. Lefty soon turns up with three chainsaws of his own and begins to carve up the home in a rage shortly before he finds the remains of his aforemntioned nephew, Franklin. Stretch finds L.G. dead and takes a look around the hideout. Drayton (Jim Siedow) finds Stretch roaming the grounds and the family capture her. Lefty eventually finds her being tortured at the dinner table and saves her. Drayton tries to bribe Lefty with money, but Lefty slashes Drayton's back side with the chainsaw, and frees Stretch. A battle between Lefty and the Sawyer family ensues, ending with a chainsaw duel between Leatherface and Lefty. As a wounded Drayton commentates from under the table, Lefty gains the upper hand and impales Leatherface in the stomach. In the end, Lefty and most of the Sawyer family (Leatherface, "Grandpa" and Drayton) are apparently killed when a grenade (which Drayton recovers off of the Hitchhiker's preserved corpse) goes off prematurely. Only Chop Top and Stretch escape, where they have a final battle in a carved-out rock tower that overlooks the property. Despite being slashed several times with a straight razor, Stretch grabs a chainsaw held by the mummified remains of the family's grandmother in a ritual shrine in the rock tower. Stretch then gets the upper hand on Chop Top, as she cuts him with the chainsaw, causing him to fall off the tower to a presumed death. The final shot shows Stretch standing on top of the tower and emulating Leatherface's famous chainsaw dance from the ending of the first film. External links * Category:Films Category:1986 release Category:The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series Category:Horror Films